Hello, Sister-in-Law
It was the weekend, a time when anyone with sense should have been at home. Yet here I was, heading out again. The reason? Meeting the new member of our writers' group.
To be honest, it was a hassle. I wanted to stay home. I even found myself wondering why I was outside on such a sweltering day.
But what could I do? It was the new member's welcome gathering. I had to show up.
"Hey, it's To-sin. To-sin, To-siiiin."
"Do you ever actually listen to me? I told you not to use my pen name in public."
"But To-sin rolls off the tongue way better than Jung-woo."
Even though the appointed time had not yet arrived, every member of the writers' group was already there. The unfamiliar face had to be the newcomer.
"Hello."
"Ah, yes."
It wasn't just his voice and manner of speaking that seemed mature—his entire appearance gave off that same vibe. Ha-jin had said we were the same age, but somehow he carried the aura of an elder.
"We all speak casually with each other. Jung-woo, are you good with dropping formalities with Ji-seong too?"
"Yeah, it's fine. We're the same age anyway. I'll go order a drink."
I brought over my usual lemonade and set it down on the table where all the drinks were gathered. Then I snapped a photo of the cluster of glasses with my phone.
This picture was definitely getting sent to Chae-yeon.
"Whoa, look at him taking a picture to send her. Be honest. You're dating that childhood friend, right?"
"That's some impressively fresh nonsense. We're not dating. And if we were, I would've told you guys."
"Then is it the talking stage?"
"It's not that either. How many times do I have to say we're just friends?"
"To-sin, there are no such things as friends between a guy and a girl."
"Next you'll say you're dating and then I'll be the one grabbing a Jukchang and stabbing you with it."
With a new member present, I had hoped the conversation would revolve around Ji-seong, but these guys latched onto me again like it was their favorite pastime.
At this rate only one person would feel left out, so I turned my gaze toward Ji-seong—only to find his eyes sparkling with the same mischievous interest.
"Jung-woo, can I ask you something?"
"Huh? Y-yeah, sure. Go ahead."
"When did you first meet your childhood friend?"
"It was back in the lower grades of elementary school. We only started contacting each other again a few months ago."
"Whoa!! That's so cool. You're the first person I've ever met who actually has a real-life childhood friend!!"
"E-everyone says that. Is it really that rare?"
"To-sin, the very concept of a childhood friend is basically fantasy. For you, that fantasy is just everyday life."
Having a childhood friend wasn't anything special. It was simply a relationship that had been maintained since we were young. The only difference was that this one happened to be a girl. People called male friends from childhood the same thing, right?
Or did they not? Whatever. I couldn't understand why they found it so fascinating that I had kept in touch with one friend from childhood until now.
"So do you contact her often and meet up all the time?"
"To-sin goes on so many dates with his childhood friend. Last time he even bought her a bracelet, right?"
"Hold on. Kim Su-ho, how the hell do you know that?"
"I may have glanced at your chat when you were typing next to me. It was so sweet!!"
"If you're buying her gifts... isn't that the talking stage?"
Great. Another troublemaker had joined the ranks. I had at least hoped the new member would be normal. Excluding Ha-jin, who wasn't like that, all four of them were now certified troublemakers. At this point we might as well rename the group from writers' gathering to professional meddlers' club.
"To-sin, To-sin, when are you going to confess?"
"I don't have those kinds of feelings for her."
"Really? For real?"
Chae-yeon was definitely beautiful. Beautiful enough that I sometimes found myself staring, lost in thought. She also occupied a fairly high spot on my list of priorities.
But that was simply because spending time with her was fun and our conversations flowed naturally. It wasn't because of any romantic feelings.
"If you're keeping in touch this consistently, doesn't that mean she has some feelings too?"
"Have you all been corrupted by Kim Su-ho? Why did everyone turn into such terrible people?!"
"Jung-woo, if it's okay, can you show us your chat with her?"
"Well... sure, I'll show you."
Showing them the chat would completely prove my innocence. Anyone could see it was just normal conversation between friends with zero romantic undertones.
I hid Chae-yeon's profile picture and showed the group our recent messages. Honestly, at this level even they would have to stop with the teasing...
The defendant Jung To-sin is hereby found guilty.
This bastard is definitely in the talking stage.
"This is one hundred percent the talking stage. I agree."
"Agreed."
"Hmm, yeah, this looks like the talking stage to me."
"There we have it—four out of six votes. Majority rules, right? Drop dead, you deceptive bastard."
I could let Su-ho, Gyeon-woo, and Yong-ju slide. But why was Ji-seong, who had just met me today, happily joining in on the harassment?
Thankfully Ha-jin stayed silent, but the other four began going wild with their majority-vote nonsense.
"When the other person is showing this much interest and care, how can you say it's not the talking stage?"
"This is because of that one time. She went to the hospital with me, and I collapsed while we were there."
"So the sickly rabbit used his frail charm to seduce her. Clever."
"Who the hell emphasizes their own frailty?!"
"You do. It's right in front of us."
No matter how much I protested and flailed, I couldn't escape their conspiracy.
In moments like this, the best strategy was to change the subject entirely.
"Ji-seong, what kind of stuff do you like?"
"Ah, To-sin's changing the subject. That counts as an admission, right?"
"Shut up, Kim Su-ho."
"I like soccer. I watch a lot of overseas matches too. I also play a ton of FIFA."
"Soccer? Hey, Su-ho finally has a friend."
"Su-ho likes soccer too?"
"He watches almost every overseas match, but none of us here could really talk about it with him."
Su-ho and Ji-seong locked eyes and immediately launched into an enthusiastic soccer debate. When Su-ho started talking about tactics on Discord, the rest of us—who knew nothing about the sport—couldn't offer any real reactions. Honestly, that had always bothered me a little. This worked out perfectly.
The conversation flowed naturally thanks to their shared interest. Flawless.
Come to think of it, Chae-yeon still hadn't replied. She used to answer my messages instantly. She really must have been busy.
Gyeon-woo, who had been peering at my phone screen from over my shoulder, suddenly leaned in.
"Waiting for her reply?"
"I'm not waiting. It's just unusual for her to take this long."
"That's what waiting looks like. At this point, you definitely have feelings."
His tone wasn't playful. It carried genuine weight.
There had been moments when I couldn't tear my eyes away from Chae-yeon—especially when I was seeing certain sides of her for the first time. The way she would brush her flowing hair aside and offer me that gentle smile.
No matter how many times I saw it, I could never simply brush off that particular smile. My heart would pound so violently I sometimes wondered if I had arrhythmia.
"Even though I complained about all the deception, I think it's nice."
"What exactly is nice?"
"Being able to share your time with someone. That's naturally a good thing."
If anything had changed the most after my surgery, it was how quickly I forgot anything that fell outside my sphere of interest. That didn't mean I remembered the things I cared about for very long either. Maybe because hanging out with friends had started to feel like part of daily routine. A few days later, I could barely recall exactly what we had done.
But Chae-yeon was different. No matter how much time passed, the memories of our time together remained vivid and alive.
I had to admit what needed admitting. I couldn't call Chae-yeon just a simple friend anymore.
"Alright, now that the new member's here, shall we actually do something fun?"
"What do you guys usually do?"
"Us? Karaoke, board game cafés, PC bangs—that kind of thing."
"Pretty normal. What are we doing today?"
"Good question. To-sin, what do you feel like?"
"Let's go to karaoke. We haven't been once since the new semester started."
"Perfect. Karaoke it is! Let's move out!!"
After wrapping up the conversation, we left the café. Being downtown on a weekend, the streets were packed with crowds.
Among them was someone who looked exactly like...
Wait. It wasn't just someone who looked like her. That was Chae-yeon.
I had thought it was a similar-looking stranger at first, but the sight of her aunt beside her confirmed it.
"What's wrong?"
"Over there. That's Chae-yeon."
"Huh? Oh, the childhood friend? That's her?"
"Why is she here? She told me she was too busy this week to come down to Gwangju."
As we walked a little closer, her figure became unmistakable.
"Chae-yeon!! Aunt!!"
"Oh? Chae-yeon, it's Jung-woo. Jung-woo, we can see you from here."
"Hello, Aunt. I didn't know you were in Gwangju."
"I came with Mom for some errands. Things got so rushed that I couldn't message you."
"It's okay. That happens."
"Are those your friends behind you?"
"Yeah. The writers' group I mentioned last time."
I called the guys over to introduce them to Chae-yeon briefly.
That was when Su-ho suddenly flashed a sly grin in my direction. Whenever he smiled like that, nothing good ever followed.
He took one step forward. Then the words that came out of his mouth were...
"Hello, sister-in-law."
"Hey, you crazy bastard!!"